My husband cheated on me with my step-sister, and even my own children helped them cover it up.

When I turned to my parents for support, they told me to be the bigger person and let my husband go to my step-sister.

Worse, they teamed up with him to kick me out of the villa. They forgot that they were the ones who forced me to marry Harlan Hannigan in the first place to save their reputation.

In the end, I walked away with half of the family assets.

Then I adopted three children from an orphanage.

I raised them with all my heart. One showed amazing talent in business from a young age and went on to build a massive company, becoming the richest businessman in the world.

One became the director of a leading research institute, dedicating herself to groundbreaking technological innovations.

And one became the principal of the prestigious Stratford International Academy.

Years later, my biological son Willow stood in front of me, his face full of arrogance.

“Bet you didn’t expect this—I’ve put Hannergy Technologies on the market! Back then, you were so ruthless, taking half of Dad’s assets. You were trying to ruin the company, weren’t you? Well, look at us now! Regretting it yet?”

I looked at him, not showing him any emotion.

It had been 20 years since I last saw him. He looked just like his father now—tall, sharp nose, deep eyes, exuding maturity and composure.

He was nothing like the soft, teary little boy who used to call me “Mommy.”

I had expected him to come after hearing I was back in the U.S.

After all, had stared at me with hate-filled eyes and gritted his teeth. “You’ll regret this, Leanna!” he had said.

Now, seeing my indifferent expression, he frowned slightly. “What’s the matter? Even after taking half of my family’s assets, you still ended up broke, staying in some cheap hotel?”

I ignored his sarcasm and asked flatly, “Is this why you came to see me after 20 years?”

“Of course not! If it weren’t for Mom, I wouldn’t have bothered to see you.” He paused. “This Saturday, my parents are celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary. They’re hosting a ceremony. But some nosy reporters managed to dig up old stories about you. Grandpa and Grandma found out you’re back, so they asked me to invite you to the event.”

I nodded calmly, not needing to think it over. After all, I was the one who had leaked those rumors to the reporters. It was time to pay a visit.

Willow seemed surprised at how easily I agreed.

“I’ll have someone send you a dress,” he said, his tone insulting me. “Look at you now—so poor it’s embarrassing.”

“Don’t worry. When you’re too old to work, Winnie and I will send you some financial support. But don’t even think about getting anything else from my family.”

“And at the party, when reporters ask questions, you better watch what you say.”

“Grandpa and Grandma want you to prioritize the Hannigans’ and Barrymores’s reputation. Don’t embarrass them like you did back then.”

After delivering his condescending remarks, he gave me a once-over, his expression full of contempt.

Looking at him now, I couldn’t help but recall the time he had a severe allergic reaction to peanuts. His face had swollen, his eyes drooped, and his breathing grew labored.

I was terrified and carried him to the hospital as fast as I could.

The doctors saved him, but as he lay on the hospital bed, he cried, “Mommy forced me to eat peanuts! She was punishing me because Leanne took me out to play and she didn’t like it.”

I kept saying it wasn’t true, that he was making it up.

But no one believed me.

Relatives accused me of being cruel, of endangering my child’s life, of abusing him.

And just like that, my reputation was ruined.

I knew he was allergic to peanuts, and we never had them in the villa. So where the hell did he get them? And where the hell did he learn to lie like that?

Turns out, he wasn’t just lying for fun. The brat wanted to ruin me! He wanted to trash my name so I’d step aside and let Leanne take my place!

That Leanne didn’t give a damn that my son almost died. And this kid knew I was the one who rushed him to the hospital to save him. But still, he went around telling everyone I fed him peanuts on purpose—that I almost killed him.

As I snapped back to the present, there was no anger in me anymore—just disappointment in him.

I just said, “I’ll be there on time.”

Then I shot a quick text to my three adopted kids: [Phase one begins.]

Saturday came, and I walked in at the hot spring hotel looking sharp. My eyes landed on a group of faces I’d never forget.

My step-sister Leanne. My ex-husband Harlan. And my so-called parents.

Dennis, my father, cheated on my mom while she was alive. Knocked up his mistress, Jocelyn Rising, and she gave birth to Leanne, who was two years younger than me.

When my mom passed away from her illness, my father wasted no time bringing his mistress into the house. Suddenly, Jocelyn was the new lady of the Barrymores.

And this lady was cunning and manipulative. She saw the Hannigans thriving and kissed enough ass to get on their good side. That’s how she got the Hannigans and Barrymores to publicly announce their plan to wed her precious daughter to Harlan.

But just when everyone thought Leanne’s marriage to a wealthy family was a sure deal, the Hannigans’ investments tanked. It left them with unsold goods and major cash flow problems.

The Hannigans were in serious need of financial support, so they asked the Barrymores for help.

But Jocelyn convinced my father to turn them down on the grounds of “tight cash flow.”

In the end, Hannergy Technologies went bankrupt after they ran out of funds.

But since the wedding between the two families had been announced so publicly, they didn’t want the media to accuse them of breaking promises or ruining their reputation.

That made them force me to marry Harlan instead.

He was drowning in debt at the time. I stuck by his side, selling goods on the street stall, wearing cheap clothes from street markets, and buying discounted food at the market just before closing. We lived in a tiny, crappy apartment.

And then the media got wind of it and plastered photos of us everywhere with headlines like: [Once a CEO, Now a Poor Street Vendor Struggling to Survive].

The whole Internet mocked us as the “bankrupt couple.”

But we didn’t quit. Every day, we woke up before sunrise to stock up on inventory, stayed out running the stall until night, and then dragged our exhausted bodies home.

I worked so hard that I dropped 20 pounds. Harlan couldn’t even hug me without feeling my bones. He cried one night, swearing he’d give me a better life one day.

Things got better, little by little. I was thrilled when I found out I was pregnant—with twins.

We couldn’t stop smiling, and Harlan busted his ass after that to give us a future.

But when I went into labor, I had a difficult delivery. I was in pain for over a day and eventually passed out on the hospital bed before they had to rush me into surgery to save me and the twins.

I kept up with the latest news and trends, spotted a chance in the solar energy industry, and convinced Harlan to invest in it. We bet everything we had and managed to ride the wave of the industry boom, climbing back to the top.

I thought we’d finally made it. But then I found out that Harlan was screwing Leanne behind my back. Even worse, my own kids were helping them cover it up.

When my father and stepmother found out, they actually tried to talk me into accepting it.

“Leanna, Leanne can’t have kids. Her body just isn’t built for it. She won’t find another good man like Harlan. Don't forget—she was supposed to marry him in the first place. The Hannigans are doing great again, and the kids like her, too. We’re all family here, right? Why don’t you just step aside and let them be together?”

“We want Auntie to be our mom. She’s nicer than you, and she treats us way better!”

“Yeah, if Leanne can’t have kids, she’d treat yours like her own.”

I looked at the people in front of me, tears filling my eyes. They were all my family, yet they were all hurting me.

I let out a bitter laugh. I said, “You want me to divorce him? Fine. But I want half of Harlan's assets. If I don’t get my share, forget about me signing the papers.”

If my family was rotten, I didn’t want any of them anymore. I’d just take what I deserved.

“Harlan, don’t forget, I was the one who stuck by you when you were trying to get back on your feet. I was the one who hustled to bring in the business, going to supplier after supplier, comparing prices, and making those deals happen. Half of everything you have, I’m entitled to it.”

He stood there, head down, saying nothing for a long time. Finally, he muttered, “But you know I’m in the middle of a big deal with Mr. Winchell. If I give you half of everything I have, I can’t come up with that much right now. You rebuilt Hannergy Technologies with me—can you really stand to see it get bankrupt again?”

My expression hardened. “Oh, so you can’t bear to let the company fall, but you can bear to cheat on me with my step-sister, huh? You know this company’s success is partly because of my hard work, so don’t even think about keeping it all. Either give me half or don’t even think about divorcing you. Besides, Hannergy Technologies is doing great now. What do you think will happen when the media finds out you dumped your wife for her younger sister? You think the public will still trust you?”

“You know I can’t give you that much right now! You’re doing this on purpose! You want Hannergy Technologies to go bankrupt again!” he snapped, completely losing his cool.

“Leanna, how about this?” My father stepped in, trying to smooth things over and calm me down. “I know you’re hurt and can’t accept what’s going on. I’ll give you a villa and a million dollars, so you can get some rest.”

“You’re so selfish! How can you watch Dad go bankrupt? Can’t you just leave quietly? If you do, maybe I’ll still call you ‘Mom.’ But if you don’t, don’t even think about Winnie and I calling you that,” my son yelled.

“Yeah, Mom, Willie’s right! You love money more than us, don’t you? Just take Grandpa’s offer! If you don’t, we won’t forgive you!” his sister chimed in.

I looked at them—my kids, the ones I nearly died giving birth to. Their words stabbed me in the heart, and before I knew it, tears had spilled down my cheeks. God, the pain was unbearable.

“Fine. I don’t need either of you. I just want what’s mine.”

In the end, the Barrymores covered part of the settlement. I signed the divorce papers, took my share, and walked away without looking back.

I moved to Australia and decided to adopt a child.

The orphanage director eagerly introduced me to all the kids, but my eyes landed on a gloomy-eyed boy in the corner.

He sat there, his small body curled up in the corner as if he didn’t belong to the world around him.

Noticing me looking at the boy, the director explained quietly, “That boy’s had it rough. His parents had a poor relationship, and his father would abuse both him and his mother. One day, he watched his mother get beaten to death. When he was brought here, he didn’t speak at all—he was withdrawn and isolated.”

I flipped through his file and found out that he was exceptionally intelligent, with an IQ over 170, and had a photographic memory.

He didn’t like to talk, often lost in his own world, preferring to read by himself for over 10 hours a day. But he was emotionally shut off, cold even, unable to connect with others. His traumatic childhood must've stripped him of any feeling.

Gently, I took his hand and asked, “Do you want to come with me? I want to be your mom.”